The Secret Life of Anthony Wong’s Illegitimate Son

When news broke that Anthony Wong (黃秋生) had a 20-year-old illegitimate son, the 56-year-old actor faced the situation calmly. Anthony admitted that William was conceived in an extra-marital affair. Although Anthony had already broken up with William’s mother, Joyce, he was generous in taking care of them financially.

Although he was married, Anthony fell for Joyce when she was only 17 years old. They continued their affair for the next ten years. When Joyce was 25 years old, she became pregnant with William. Two years later, she broke up with Anthony and brought William with her to England.

Joyce later married, but Anthony bought a house for her and William. He also continued to pay for William’s living expenses and school tuition. William has a strong music talent and got into one of England’s top schools.

Although father and son do not live together, they make up for it with quality moments. When Anthony was filming in England, William stayed with him. They also went to local museums and dined out together. Frequently flying to Hong Kong to visit Anthony, William’s social media account revealed that he admired father, often following his news and film projects.

While Anthony had made some mistakes in his marriage, he has tried his best to provide for his family, earning public respect.

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How do you feel about this article?The Secret Life of Anthony Wong’s Illegitimate Son

@m0m0
Well… I hope you are building a time machine for him to travel back and correct his wrongdoings. What more do you expect him to do, now? people are respecting that he has admitted his mistakes and doing the most he can to ensure the suffering is minimized for members of his family…

@m0m0 I think his actions afterwards are admirable. Yes, he cheated, so he made a huge mistake earlier in his life. But it happened, and he can’t change it. Rather than try to sweep it under the rug, he did his best to make up for the mistake by supporting mother and son the best he could, which was financially.

Contrast this to how Jacky Chan handled his infidelity, and you’ll see that Anthony, although not a saint and has made mistakes in the past, is at least taking responsibility for it.

If his son is forgiving of him, who are we as outsiders to judge the guy as a father.

@m0m0@mike I understand what you’re trying to say, but maybe the wording is a little off-base. Anthony Wong has questionable ethics, but he is a responsible person. I see him somewhat like Simon Cowell who infamously impregnated his friend’s wife while she was married to her then husband lol. He has taken full responsibility towards raising his son and Anthony has, too. So he’s not the brightest bulb in the box, but he admits his mistakes.

@coralie can’t agree with you more…questionable ethics in a hand of cases and far from perfect in a lot of them… And this doesn’t just apply to Anthony. He had William at a very young age, he could have walk away and from William.. But he didn’t. Accepting and being responsible is being a real man and the father of his child.

@m0m0, affair is not respectable… And yes society probably will not accept it with women doing the same thing.. if anything, it would be worst. But it’s about living up to your mistake, after the face… “being responsible and taking ownership” of what’s respected with Anthony. However many celebrities who can own up like Anthony? not even a handful. But there plenty of open secrets and dirty laundry out there who far worst then Anthony’s situation.

@hotaru There’s actually more to the story that wasn’t in this article (Eastweek is not a very reputable publication in HK, even for a gossip rag, so I would take what they print with a grain of salt). Yes, Anthony was indeed “generous” because the money that he provided for William actually was stifled off by Joyce to raise her own family (the husband she married after her affair with Anthony and the kids that came out of that marriage). William actually didn’t receive much of the money outside of tuition and stuff for school (which she couldn’t “not pay” because then it would be too obvious she was taking all the money). Anthony actually found out about what Joyce was doing not long ago and that’s when he started giving the money to William directly rather than going through Joyce….as revenge, Joyce went to the media and spilled the beans on Anthony being William’s father (that’s how this whole story came to light in the first place). Anthony also found out that Joyce had abused William at multiple points in his life – basically taking out her frustration at Anthony on William. Anthony said that when Joyce found out he was giving money to William directly instead of going through her, she was so angry that she kicked William out of the house….

As I said when this news story first came out – yes, cheating is wrong no matter which way it goes, but Anthony at the very least took responsibility for his actions. He not only provides for William financially, he also maintains a relationship with him and even incorporates him into his actual family – the fact that the wife knew about the affair and not only forgave him but also welcomed William into the family says a lot. Cheating in the entertainment industry is very common and has actually been rampant since the beginning of time pretty much – it is what we would call an “open secret” about the entertainment industry that everyone knows but no one really says anything because there is no point, since nothing will ever change about this reality. Anthony is one of those rare celebrities who actually openly admitted to having an affair, siring an illegitimate child, and subsequently had done everything he possibly can and should be doing to make sure that child is properly taken care of (and not just financially either). Out of all the men who cheat in the industry (and there are and will continue to be plenty), how many do you see doing what Anthony did? I honestly can’t think of even one….

No one is 100% flawless, sinless and free of all wrong doings. No one. No matter how responsible you are. Mistakes happen intentionally or unintentionally. Everyone has wronged or been wronged by someone else. We’re not perfect. Fortunately, we have the choice and free will to right it at least attempt to right our wrongs. It’s more important to know and admit what we did wrong, then do something to correct it.

Was it wrong that Anthony cheated? Absolutely. He acknowledged it and made up or making up for it by supporting his son by whatever means. He seemed to be involved in the kid’s life instead simply throwing money at him. Kudos. Admirable.

Just as we “praise” in a way of Anthony, we can and should “praise” how Shirley bounced back. Was it wrong for her to cheat, lie and cover up her lies? Absolutely. But arent that water under the bridge just as Anthony cheated in his wife for an extended period of time. She moved on, re-focusing her career and rising her daughter now.

@jjwong
Shirley bounced back in terms of raising her daughter which is a mother’s duty but she didn’t admit she made mistakes. She just blamed her ex boyfriend and his family and cut ties with the child’s father to limit the damage to her image. I wouldn’t say she deserves praise. Maybe a bit of sympathy which was what she was strategically worked for….

@jimmyszeto I don’t think Shirley deserves praise either
(neither does Anthony) but I don’t think she owes the public any explanation as ultimately it’s a private issue. Same with Anthony, whether he ‘owes up’ to his mistakes or not publicly, at the end of the day the only people he has to answer to are the family members that he hurt, we can feel however we want to feel about these people (and I already wrote down what I feel about his situation) but I never cared much if celebs lie for their image’s sake (dating status, marriage status, sexuality… general private stuff that aren’t border-crossingly evil), I only pity that they have to do so because the public is so entitled about their lives and flaws.

For me personally, both Shirley and Anthony were equally ‘wrong’ (for lack of a better word), how Shirley handled everything was just a whole lot messier.

@peanutbutterjelly
Shirley does not owe the public an explanation but she is still depending on the public to give her a chance who ultimately pays her for her living since she is still part of the entertainment industry. It is foolish to lie and upset the consumers. If the consumers were not be pissed off, she would still be at TVB. Anthony on the other does not have to give a damn what people think because has made a fortune already and is extremely talented that people would come in their droves to watch him anyway.scandal or no scandal. However he is decent enough to admit his mistake and got on with doing that he can to limit the damage.

@jimmyszeto I can’t speak for anyone else but personally I can’t bring myself to care too much about celebs lying about personal matters, much less their public images. Celebs lying about their marriage status? Adultery? Plastic surgery? Sexual orientation? Fine with me. Wouldn’t bat an eye.

We consume their work, not their personhood.

Admittedly, people do display a certain entitlement and figurative cannibalistic tendencies towards entertainers. I still remember a tear-filled Ronald Cheng and Charlene Choi with camera lights flashing in their grief-stricken faces when they apologized for being secretly married and divorced a few years ago. Chilling.

I still watch tons of Jackie Chan movies, regardless of how I feel about him as a person (which is not very positive) I still like the movies. I’m aware that almost every single person who worked with Stephen Chow says he’s satan himself but to me he’s still a great director. Anthony is still a good actor, Shirley is still a mediocre actress at best but she never bothered me in her supporting roles so eh… that’s all that matters to me at the end of the day.

@coralie can’t agree with you more…questionable ethics in a hand of cases and far from perfect in a lot of them… And this doesn’t just apply to Anthony. He had William at a very young age, he could have walk away and from William.. But he didn’t. Accepting and being responsible is being a real man and the father of his child.

@ricky721
It’s so difficult to main the relationship with the child once a couple breaks up and the child goes with the mother nevermind the relationship with a child from an affair. Anthony must have worked hard to ensure his son had the best upbringing that he could possible give him. That deserves respect in my book.

That being said, I don’t understand why he deserves any praise at all for not being a complete a-hole.

Him taking responsibilities for and admitting to his own mistakes are the bare minimum standards for being a decent human being. Not even good, but decent.

I see people compare how he handled the situation to how Jackie Chan did it but come on, that’s setting the bar really low.

I’m not saying we should vilify Anthony but I don’t think he deserves any credit either. He may have made the best out of a bad situation but he was responsible for the bad situation in the first place anyway.

He’s not a bad father but not what I would consider a good one either, definitely a terrible husband, let’s leave it at that.

@peanutbutterjelly I had the same judgment about Anthony initially, then I realized people are not judging him on an absolute plane, but on a relative one. similarly, I didn’t think liu tao deserves so much heaping praise for being a good wife (since that’s the bare minimum expected), but if you judge her relative to others at her status, then you can understand why people defended & praised her for her dedication.

I think what Anthony did was sh!tty to his wife. And that makes him an arsehole. But he’s responsible, at the very least. That’s all we can say about him, considering his peers’ terrible track records.

@peanutbutterjelly I agree with you. Initially, I also thought, well that’s nice that he has a relationship with his son. However, I reversed the situation and imagine if this were a female actress, would she get the same praise for having a relationship with an illegitimate child? Heck no, because that is the expected responsibility of a parent. No praise or vilification needed either.

Anthony could have walked away and never paid a penny. He could have no communication but he chose to do his duty as a father as his own wife chose to accept this son. i think he did well. He can’t undo the affair but he did what’s right and he did well.